Write to Heal

As single mothers, we have lots of emotions that sit inside us, not all of them good. No matter how ‘half glass full’ you are as a person, we all have days when you just want to shut the door and have a good cry. I don’t think this feeling applies just to single mums though; I think all mothers feel like this at some stage. But as single mums, we tend not to have a shoulder to cry on at the end of the day and so a lot more of our whirlwind emotions get buried inside by the time we go to bed.

 So what’s a great way to deal with that? Certainly not ignoring those feelings for I can assure you from experience, they don’t go away. Inside they just fester and then come out at the most importune and unrelated moment.  Like this morning when my daughter simply misplaced all her hair bands as we were rushing out the door and I became very quickly and unusually narky. It was after getting frustrated with her that I realised my frustrations lay well and truly elsewhere. Being a humble soul, I didn’t have a problem apologising to her immediately and to her credit, she accepted my ‘sorry’ straight away. As I was clearly out of character for reacting to something so small, she asked me what was wrong. I mumbled something vague, gave her kiss and dropped her off to school.

 I realised from this morning’s exchange that without noticing it, I had buried some emotions and they needed some serious excavation. For me the best way to deal with that was to write.

 Writing is a great form of healing, even if writing is not your usual thing. The wonderful thing about writing is that no-one else needs to read it but you. It’s like a one way conversation with yourself. You get to write out what is bothering you, write down all the things you are upset about, just write out of yourself all those feelings that you’ve been keeping inside. Letting them out on paper frees you from them and yourself!

 Whenever you’re feeling under pressure or generally unhappy, head to your laptop or just grab a piece of paper and a pen. Don’t edit what you want to write. Just write! Let your bad emotions out and I guarantee you, you’ll feel instantly better.

 This afternoon I feel like a different person. The world looks hopeful again and my glass is back to feeling half full. Give it a try. You may be surprised what comes out and how much fresher you can feel.